Page:The Chinese Repository - Volume 01.djvu/220

 JOURNAL OF OCCURRENCES.

—we have to regret the omission, in our last number, of some particulars which we possessed concerning the suppression of the rebellion in Hoonan. In our 3d number, page 111, we gave some extracts from a Peking Gazette of the end of May. A gazette of the 11th June, since received, contains further details, derived from a second despatch from Governor Lookwan, of which the following is an extract.

After having forwarded the previous despatch, concerning the victory over the rebels on the 15th May, the Governor joined General Yu-poo-yun, the commander-in-chief, and advanced with him, to repossess the small town of Pingtseuen, which had been the last strong-hold of the mountaineers in Hoonan; and to exterminate the rebels from the surrounding country. On the 20th, 21st, and 22nd of May, the troops were chiefly engaged in throwing fire into the town, by which means multitudes of the rebels were destroyed. On the 23d, a strong force was ordered to march in at once, and every place occupied by the rebels was set fire to, many of them perishing, with their houses, in the flames. On each of these occasions, large numbers of prisoners were taken, both men, women, and children; till at length, no more rebels were to be found. On the 25th, therefore, inquiry was made for the chief rebel Chaou-kin-lung; when it was universally declared, by his relatives and followers, that he had fallen in the streets of Pingtseuen. Parties, with individuals who had known the chief, were then sent to turn over and examine every corpse, in order to assure the governor of the truth of what was said. This was done;—but unsuccessfully, and with great difficulty, on account of the vast number of putrid, half-burnt bodies, which lay unburied. The governor, however, is inclined to believe the assertion of Chaou-kin-lung's death, and the Emperor agrees with him in thinking, that, as it is so general, there can be little doubt of its truth.—The Emperor greatly laments that, instead of having "taken him alive and sent him to Peking, there to be punished according to the fullest extent of the law,—that so the authority of government might be luminously exhibited,and men's hearts rejoiced,—it had been found impossible to obtain possession of his person, he having been slain in battle;—and so the Imperial hopes had not been accomplished."—A fine specimen this of the civilization and tender mercies of the Chinese!—During the whole time of the siege of Ping-tseuen, which lasted from the 29th April to the 24th May, there were 3 officers and 158 privates killed; and 23 officers and 593 privates wounded.

It will have been seen from previous numbers, that, on the suppression of the rebels in Hoonan, as detailed above. Governor Le set out for Leen-chow, the seat of the rebellion in this province; and commenced a campaign against the eight principal tribes called Pa-pae Yaou. He had not dared, according to his own account, to make any attack previously; but had only preserved a strict look-out, during the continuance of rebellion in the neighbouring province; for which he has incurred the Imperial displeasure, and has been degraded from his rank, and deprived of the honorific ornament of a peacock's feather in his cap: being suffered, however, to retain his office.

Since the defeat which he met with at the begining of this campaign, on the 20th of June (and which was the immediate occasion of his degradation), his Excellency has been